Andy Griffith died of heart attack, death certificate says

(CNN) — Andy Griffith’s death certificate says the actor died of a heart attack, after years of suffering from other illnesses, including coronary artery disease.

The North Carolina native had long endured hypertension and hyperlipidemia, his certificate said, which can suggest high cholesterol or high triglycerides.

The heart attack occurred about 24 hours before he died, the certificate says. Griffith passed away at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and was buried less than five hours later.

He was 86.

Most known for his role as the sheriff of Mayberry on the CBS series “The Andy Griffith Show,” Griffith “has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island,” the family said in a statement issued Tuesday.

He was buried in the Griffith Family Cemetery in Manteo, North Carolina.

A member of the Televison Hall of Fame, Griffith also was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. His 1996 album, “I Love to Tell the Story — 25 Timeless Hymns,” netted him a Grammy Award.

Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in 1926, he graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949 with a degree in music. He made his film debut in “A Face in the Crowd” in 1957 and made his final film appearance in “Play the Game” in 2009. In between, he had two successful television series — “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Matlock” — and appeared in dozens of other TV shows and movies.